Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion

[mr.x]

From pricetags


Ads for the new text message system



The Missing Piece of Information
December 6, 2007

When you’re waiting for a bus, time slows down. People perceive, (according to some study) that it takes 1.35 times longer for the bus to arrive than it actually does - or something on that order.

It can be stressful. Let’s say you have a choice: wait for a bus or walk to your destination. The bus will be faster (or dryer), but only if it arrives in the next few minutes. So you have to do a risk assessment: wait or walk.

If you walk, you know what will likely happen: the bus will show up, but you’re probably between stops so you miss it. If you wait, well, time slows down so it seems like it would have been faster to walk. And that’s why you’re pissed off, no matter what you do, and another reason why people prefer to drive.

What you needed to know was simple but unavailable: how long until the next bus shows up.


Now, at last, a solution - at least for those with cell phones:

1. locate the 5 digit unique bus stop number, in yellow, in the upper right hand corner of all bus stops (or look on the TransLink website)

2. text the five digit bus stop number to 33333 from your cell phone

3. receive the times and route numbers for the next six buses at that stop

If you just want times for a particular route, text the 5 digit stop number followed by the route number with a space in-between and you will be sent the next six times that route will stop at that location.


Even better would be a GIS system and a readout at the bus stop itself - real time info at a glance. You can go to the TransLink website to try to find the number of your closest stop here - but it didn’t work for me. Not even “Georgia and Gilford Streets.” And Google Transit doesn’t have the stop numbers on its site.

That’s the transit challenge in this world of instant information: everything has to work all the time for every individual’s needs. And because the single-occupant vehicle seems to do so, it’s generally the first choice.

But transit is catching up.

[j4893k]

I tried it last night and I must say, it took a while for the text to come back. It would have been a lot faster to just phone Translink and enter the stop number. I dont know, maybe it's just a Telus thing. Anyone else find it to be the same?

I tried it again yesterday and it actually came back right away. I'm really liking this!

[zivan56]

How much do they charge you for this? Those short numbers can be anywhere from $0.05 to $5 depending on the number...

[deasine]

Originally Posted by paradigm4

I'd like to invite everyone from this forum, and SSC, to TransitCamp. It's a positive solutions playground where people can get together to geek out about transit, and find creative ways together to improve our system. TransLink will be participating. About 20-30 people plan to show up already, and I'd love to see some of you guys out at the event, since you obviously all have a ton of knowledge about transportation. For more info, visit this link.

It's happening this Saturday, from 9am to 4pm at Workspace in Gastown.

I attended the workshop for twenty mintues today.... Very interesting: vareity of meeting sessiosn such as transit routes, WiFi, numbering of bus routes, etc. Worth while!

[mr.x]

Transit surplus may go toward 'clean' buses

Frank Luba, The Province
Published: Sunday, December 09, 2007

TransLink's outgoing board of directors may give transit users a special Christmas gift of 32 more "clean" buses at their last meeting Dec. 12.

Before an appointed board of professionals replaces them Jan. 1, the board could follow a staff recommendation and decide to direct a surplus that's $27.2 million higher than forecast to the new vehicles.

Based on September year-to-date results, the 2008 budget report indicates a 2007 year-end annual surplus of $75.4 million for a cumulative surplus of "close to $400 million."

Higher revenues (up $8.8 million) and lower debt servicing costs (down $22.1 million) provided the surplus.

The 32 new buses would be used across the region to help address greenhouse-gas emission issues.

They use alternative technologies and would provide 100,000 additional hours of service when they are delivered by the end of 2009, the report says.

[email protected]

[David]

i used it last night. i got the message back within 20 seconds and im on fido.
without GPS it is pretty useless unless you are at a stop without the pole time listings.
facebook used to have an application called MyBus Vancouver developed by SFU students I think, which was way more useful. You could designate 10 bus stops that you use frequently through Facebook and give them a unique code name. Then you text that code to the MyBus number, and it replies with the next bus times. It was more useful since you could do it from wherever you were, without needing to know the specific bus stop number

[SpongeG]

they have that kind of thing in san francisco - never got to try it but saw the way to do it at some stops

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by David

i used it last night. i got the message back within 20 seconds and im on fido.
without GPS it is pretty useless unless you are at a stop without the pole time listings.
facebook used to have an application called MyBus Vancouver developed by SFU students I think, which was way more useful. You could designate 10 bus stops that you use frequently through Facebook and give them a unique code name. Then you text that code to the MyBus number, and it replies with the next bus times. It was more useful since you could do it from wherever you were, without needing to know the specific bus stop number

pretty easy to do that yourself. Save SMS messages as drafts for the stops you use... or put them in your phonebook....

First Name: #5 Bus from Home
Last Name : - 92112 (Bus stop)
Number: 33333

Or whatever makes sense for your phone.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by djh

Not quite sure I understand your meaning, Mr. X.

BTW, re. bottlenecks at turnstiles/gates: people just get used to it and there aren't bottlenecks. I used the tube in London every day in rush-hour for about 10 years, and there were rarely queues to get into or out of the stations, except when tourists were getting confused (or there was an incident).

I do notice people in Vancouver are pretty hapless navigating a busy transit system (e.g., standing on the left-hand-side of escalators and blocking walkers; never moving to the back of the bus;, standing in front of the exit doors of the trains; pushing on to the train before people have got off and causing a massive bottleneck, etc.), but I really believe it's because they are not used to a big-city busy transit system.

Whenever I work in Toronto I barely see those same problems, except, again, when there are tourists on the system who haven't been forced to learn the protocols that are necessary to make the journey fast and smooth. The same thing used to happen on London's DLR (I also used it daily when it was started in '93/'94 and was a low-usage system; after a few years when it was added to the Jubilee line and got more traffic there were not commuter-bottleneck problems as people figured it out). It's amazing now, and that's supposed to be a light-rail system like the Canada Line & Skytrain (as opposed to heavy rail)

As the system in Vancouver gets used more and there is more public acceptance, those low-usage barrier bugs will get ironed-out, pretty quickly.

I was thinking about this... and something came to mind. Not sure if anyone has travelled on the Northbound entry ramp from the cape horn interchange to the freeway, but there's a timed light there... two lanes merging onto the freeway, and they let one care by every second, alternating left and right lanes. Anyway, it has the effect of cars that have a little space between them, and subsequently move full speed when they enter the highway. It really has reduced slowdowns, by limiting the traffic. Also, if you're waiting for the light, the traffic is constantly moving, so you don't have the despair feeling.

Anyway, I wonder if something similar might happen with turnstiles. So that you won't get as much crush crowding during events like the fireworks or sports events.

Just a thought.

[zivan56]

Originally Posted by David

i used it last night. i got the message back within 20 seconds and im on fido.
without GPS it is pretty useless unless you are at a stop without the pole time listings.

Curiously enough, I just saw a recent CNG bus that had a GPS with a huge screen for the driver and a next station display (no, it wasn't a B-Line, it was a 145). So it doesn't sound too far off, since they could easily use cellular networks to relay the info (will be useful for both them and us).

[twoNeurons]

Bell/Rogers already have a 802.16 (Wi-Max) network across the region. The Inukshuk Network, so I'm sure Translink could partner with one of those providers. I wonder if this is how the free wireless internet will be broadcast on buses?

[zivan56]

I hope they implement some account authentication with WPA-TLS, otherwise it will be trivial to collect hundreds of usernames/passwords during each trip...

[twoNeurons]

I'd imagine that its user beware if they don't.

[mr.x]

Broken-down SeaBus expected to be repaired for morning commute

Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2007

VANCOUVER - A SeaBus that broke down en route to Waterfront station tonight is expected to be repaired and running by Wednesday morning's rush hour.

TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said about 70 passengers were aboard the Burrard Otter when its generator malfunctioned at about 6:40 p.m., causing oil to enter the exhaust system.

This led to billows of smoke at Waterfront terminal and caused smoke alarms to go off. The terminal was evacuated while the fire department was called out.

The Otter was able to dock at Waterfront station shortly before 7 p.m. and single-ferry service was restored, Snider said.

© Vancouver Sun

[deasine]

Not really transit-releated:

New ferry arrives in B.C. waters
48-day journey from German shipyard where it was built; expected to enter service in spring on Departure Bay to Horseshoe Bay route

CanWest News Service
Islanders got their first glimpse of the newest member of the B.C. Ferries fleet Thursday morning.

Coastal Renaissance, the first of three new Super C-class ferries built in Germany, sailed past Clover Point and Beacon Hill Park, then continued on to Vancouver where it did a loop in the harbour, before journeying on to its home port at Departure Bay ferry terminal in Nanaimo.



Coast Renaissance sails along the Victoria waterfront, finishing its journey from Germany. Dec. 13, 2007.
Photograph by : Ray Smith, Times Colonist


The ferry travelled for 48 days from Germany, where it was built.

It is slated to enter service between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver in early spring, once crew training on the vessel is complete.

A second ferry is expected to leave Germany in mid-January, arriving in B.C. waters in March. It will run between Duke Point and Tsawwassen.

The third vessel will serve on the Swartz Bay - Tsawwassen route.

All three are to be in service by summer.

The exteriors of the ferries, the largest double-ended ferries in the world, are being decorated with sports images to promote the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

They can each carry 1,650 passengers and 370 vehicles.

Open houses for the public to tour the ferry are being set up for late January and early February at Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver.

[raggedy13]

^Good news and sweet pic. Glad it's finally made it into town. Would've liked to have seen it do its Vancouver loop.

[djp]

I'm against the expansion of the ferry fleet, actually. Yes, there are long line-ups during summer weekends, but so what?

This is another transportation "improvement" along the lines of the Gateway project. It will make getting on and off the island less of a hassle, thus increasing the number of car trips back and forth and (inevitably) the amount of lower mainland sprawl that will spread to the island.

Already the east coast of Vancouver Island from Victoria up to Qualicum Beach is being developed at an alarming rate. By increasing ferry capacity they're going to speed that up, all for the sake of what exactly? The economy of the island would probably be just as well off without the added population - as a tourist destination and resort economy rather than a suburban junkland filled with auto dealerships and fast food (see: Parksville, Nanaimo, Duncan, etc.) Further population growth on the island should be discouraged...it's natural beauty is one of B.C.'s biggest tourism assets.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

[The_Henry_Man]

^The problem is, whether you like it or not, there is going to be an increase in population in Vancouver Island, as people are moving there to escape the terrible housing prices in the Lower Mainland (save Victoria, since that's expensive by itself). You can't stop this population flow. It's always going to be dictated by the overall forecast of economics. People just won't stop moving there merely because someone says that Vancouver Island's population increase should be discouraged because it should be kept as tourism destination.

[SFUVancouver]

Well I think that the ferries are both a critical transportation link in the province and a tangible part of the culture of the south coast. While you are absolutely correct that additional capacity will likely foster additional trips, I disagree that these trips are responsible for the awful highway oriented form of development in the places you mentioned. Those poor planning choices were made at a municipal level and you only have to go north one more municipality to Qualicum Beach to see the alternative. The best thing that could be done for transportation on Vancouver Island would be the introduction of reliable, frequent interurban rail service from Qualicum Beach south to Victoria with train stations adjacent to the ferry terminals. I'm envisioning diesel multiple units like Ottawa's O-Train that would run on a reasonable schedule of peak and off-peak frequencies with a degree of comfort similar to a commuter rail train or Pacific Coach Lines' bus service.

[twoNeurons]

I agree. Besides, this increases capacity and doesn't do much for frequency. It just means that there will be less waiting for people when they want to cross. Like it or not, the Island is a short hop away, distance-wise, from the Mainland and given that the capitol city is there, it should be linked in with the mainland.